Thursday, 28 May 2015

Now it may have escaped some peoples attention, but I like Goblins. Of all the many Goblins that have been released into the wild to cause mischief, I really like the old Great Goblin/Gnoll range produced by Citadel in the early to mid 1980's. And I feel I have neglected my Goblins for far too long.

Unlike later 1980's Goblins and beyond, which I still like, the Great Goblins/Gnolls have in my eyes a special charm and character about them. The Great Goblins/Gnolls seem to have more a 'civilised' looking (well most of them, but more on that later) feel to them, more akin to a Goblin version of Hobbits, with their better looking clothing and more 17th/18th Century feel. They remind me of Brian Froud's Goblins, and of course 'Hoggle' from the Labryinth (which Brian Froud worked on).
For people unaware of the range here is a useful link:

Anyway, I always liked the range and have endeavoured to buy them, both at the time when they were available, and since, including when they pop up on e-bay. However when putting them into regiments I felt that they never really got the credit for their individuality which I felt they deserved. Also I have been aware that I tend to batch paint masses of troops, rather than always take the time on miniatures. So I have decided to embark on this particular project of spending a little more time on these Goblins. I might still take on other things to do, time allowing, but will keep treating the Goblins with more time and attention. Incidentally, I have this crazy notion of naming each of these Goblins, and painting the names on the base edges!

The idea is to base the Goblins on 30mm round bases, which are a lot bigger than the normal 20mm for Goblins. By doing this I feel that I can give each model the space to explore its individuality, and allow for a much better decorated base, something which I have wanted to do for a while on miniatures. I feel the 30mm base is good medium between being a display base and a skirmish size. For the Boar Riders I plan to use 40mm bases and the few Trolls and Giants I'll include I'll use 50mm bases.

Here are a few of the test models I have painted today, enjoy :)

Goblins!

I kind of cheated a little. I worked on four Goblin which were already painted, but I went back and re-did/updated some of the paint work and of course, re-based them.

FTG4 Gnoll/Goblin Chieftain.

I ended up painting him up as an older looking Goblin, with grey beard and eyebrows. He looks like he is considering things more than your average Goblin. He has a slightly muddy cloak as well.

The big plant on the base is a 'Butterbur' from the 'Noch' range, more details of which futher down in this update.

Left hand side.

I placed him slightly to one side of the base to allow the use of a plant, to seem like he is walking around it.

FTG14 Gnorman the Gnoll aka Gilbert the Goblin.

Rear view showing rock and the tall grass.

C12 Goblin/Gnoll.

In the 1st Edition Warhammer supplement 'Forces of Fantasy' it suggests that the Great Goblins dress in dark colours. However I wanted to make them have more of a fairytale fantasy vibe, and so have gone for brighter colours.

The flower on the base is a primrose according to the box.

Side/rear view showing more colourful Goblin clothing and a log on the base (left over from my Autumnal Wood Elf project).

Another C12 Goblin.

He looks fed up bless him :(

I like the poncho/cloak...

...which I painted up a little muddy.

Like Gnorman's base, I have added some longer grass/reeds to the base.

M

WIP on the painting table.

I have filled the gap between the solid base on the goblins and the lip of the base with Millput. The lipped bases allow for the solding base to be lower down and not so prominant. I will on some of the bases add dips and water filled puddles.

Those of you familar with this range might have noticed I have'nt as of yet painted or based up any of the 'long eared' Great Goblins/Gnolls, such as those above.

I have a plan for these. As they are bare chested, wearing leggings and what looks like a kilt, and seem different in style from the other Great Goblins/Gnolls, I am going to paint these up with a slightly Scottish vibe, with plaid clothing and blue warpaint.

Flowers!

I popped over to a model shop in Worthing and picked up some little tiny model plants for bases.

These are apparently Primroses, ideal for Goblins raiding Hobbits gardens!

So cute and tiny. :)

Also, I popped over to Lancing to a model train shop to buy these laser cut model plants as well.

I bought Butterbur, Hollyhocks, and Hosta's.

The Butterbur.

They come in sheets, and just pop out and then you squish them into shape. I include the 20mm square base for scale.

Modelling flock with rock bits, made from cork.

I do have another couple of packs of model flowers in the post from e-bay. I can recommend looking at model railway plants etc as they can be suprisingly interesting.

I still have all manner of bits, flock, and random items for which to add to bases. I even have a 28mm metal goat to add.

Next update will either be more Goblins, or the long promised anaylsis of the High Elf army list.

Wednesday, 20 May 2015

Over the last few weeks I have taken a break from blogging and painting.

This has been partly due to me being busy at work, and partly because I had reached a bit of an impasse with the Slann army. So I put that somewhat vast project on hold, whilst not really focusing on another project.
I still haven't settled on what to do, flitting between sorting out Squats, Praetorian Imperial Guard, and Goblins. So I decided to take a break for a while to re-focus. I probably need to pick a contained and achievable project which is not too large nor open ended. I am mindful I still have a couple of 3rd Edition Fantasy Battle armies to finish off, so might look at those again.

Warploque Miniatures.
A few weeks ago when I went to Salute 2015 I picked some of their 'Albionnican Empire' Miniatures. They are part of a range designed to work with their game system, which I have not played, but is free from their website.http://www.warploqueminiatures.com/

The design concept of them is Napoleonic in style, but with Medieval weapons, namely Crossbows and Halberds (although one of the ones I haven't painted has a flamethrower!). I quite like the idea as I always had the idea of doing a converted 18th Century army with medieval weapons as an alternative fantasy style army (perhaps using the 3rd Edition 'Empire' army list as a basis). So pushing the look of the army into the early 19th Century, with the bonus of models which I don't have to convert, seemed a fine idea.

The idea of the Albionnican Empire is that they are loosley based on the British Empire. However looking at the models I thought they looked more French in their style, especially the Ogre with his Bearskin, and the Officer. So I painted them up as pseudo-Napoleonic French.

Sculpting wise, they aren't as crisp as a Perry Twins sculpt, but they are nice and quite characterful. They are better than the rough and ready sculpting of the Flintloque ranges (which they remind me of), but would probably fit someone who is more used to 1980's sculpting or historical ranges. I like the miniatures, the breastplates are a great addition and the weapons are sensible. They are supplied on 30mm lipped round bases, but I decided to base them on 20mm square bases so they could be used in Warhammer.

They work out at about £3 per infantry, with the Officer/NCO £5 each, and the Ogre £12. The Ogre is made from resin, the humans are metal. It's not too expensive, but a small army of them might be a little pricey, although to be fair they are really meant for a skirmish game.

Enjoy :)

An Officer, Ogre, and eight infantry.

The Officer.

I like the walking stick, sword at ease on the shoulder, extra details, and the slighly huaghty look of this model. He looks like he is ready to take part in a duel, or lead a glorious charge, and will make a great Army General.

Halberdiers.

The one on the left is smoking, something unusual in modern sculpting. I painted his 'smoke' as a cigar.

On the right is a trooper with halberd levelled.

I chose the basic Napoleonic French Infantry uniform, white trousers, blue coat, red facings and plume. I think the Shakos are meant to me helmets, but I think they look better painted black rather than bare metal.

Two more Infantry, advancing, and looking.

Crossbowmen.

I painted these up in French Light Infantry colours, with blue trousers and green/yellow plumes.

One of the reasons I went for the French colour scheme was that crossbow seemed more French than British. I always assumed a English/British version of this idea would have longbows instead.

Kneeling and advancing.

Ogre.

I put him on a 40mm Square base. He has that veteran look with battered shield and armour, and a vicous looking sword. The bearskin with large headplate looks more reminiscent of the French Imperial Old Guard to me.

Close up of the fce.

He is smoking a cigar too!

Army Standard and NCO.

As you can see I did'nt get around to painting these, but included them to give an idea of their look.

Knight and Flamethrower.

Recently I won a couple of auctions on e-bay for Great Goblins/Gnolls, which re-kindled my love of them and a wish to sort out them out into proper units.

Great Goblin/Gnoll Infantry (and Chariot).

I now have about 180 of the little scamps, as well as 30 Cavalry which I didn't photograph.

I really do like this range of miniatures, and am very tempted to spend time painting some up.

Side view (ignore the 3-eyed Chaos Goblin and the odd Runequest Troll which have snuck in!) .

I have collected a good mix of miniatures, and am laways keeping an eye out for odds and ends of variants.

WIP.

I have been converting up some old Mordian miniatures with some 'Gas Mark heads 1' in pith helmets from 'Black Pyramid Games'. They are supplied with spikes on the top of the helmet, but I snipped these off as they as a little fragile. Since I bought these heads a little while ago, they do more types, as well as other stuff:

I used to play a lot of the computer game Civilization, and when I played the English I always imagined the modern era army as Praetorians. When fighting epic post nuclear war conflicts I thought that the normal Preatorians where a little underquiped for the Rad-Zone ruins. So, here are some NBC (Nuclear-Chemical-Biological) warfare troops.

I will field them as Veterans, and plan to paint them up in Khaki rather than the red tunics of the rest of the army.

Heavily converted Heavy flamer on the left. He has a Cadian (or Catachan, I can't recall) Heavy flamer, and a Gas Mask head from 'Pig Iron Productions'.

On the right is a converted Melta Gunner. I like Melta guns as they are cheap, and have a habit of destroying vehicles or melting Space Marines.

I am happily converting up Mordians, and will paint up a squad to test out the idea, but am not 100% commited to focusing my entire time on the project at the moment. I converted up an Attilan Rough Rider with one of these heads too, but I can't find it at them moment.

No idea what the next update will be on.

I do still have the next installment of my irregular series on the analysis of the 3rd Edition Warhammer army lists to do, and will hopefully paint up a unit of NBC Preatorians.